Posted 10/3/17 without editing
November 16, 2006
(Used first part, Harrisonburg, December 3, 2006)
Those who teach that the Ten Commandments are not for us today
simply do not understand the implications of Gods Ten Words,
which are given for our good. Deuteronomy 10:12
Or the fallen nature may gladly hear, agree to and even submit
to the simple Ten Words, yet get offended, resist or outright
reject the many Biblical implications built upon those Ten basic
Words. Antinomian teachers have cut their followers off from the
blessings covered in the Ten Words.
In Louisiana, the man in charge of our large Christian School saw an entire stand-up tool box of Snap On tools fall from a pickup when the pickup turned a corner too fast. He said that it looked like the man was moving from one job to another, and had all of his tools with him. Obviously, our man stopped and picked them up. I urged him to at the very least run an add in the paper that he had found the tools, which he refused to do. He said that the insurance company would probably replace the tools for the man, so the man would not lose anything. However, he would never have dreamed of removing the tools from the pickup. He would fight for Thou shalt not steal, but refused to even consider the implications of that Commandment. According to Deuteronomy 22, that man was a thief, for the implications of the commandments are as binding as are the commandments themselves. And really, there is no worse of a theft than stealing the tools of ones trade, except stealing his wife.
The Family, and a few implications found in the Fifth Commandment.
The New York Times reported last October, Its Official: To Be Married Means to Be Outnumbered.
So we now ask, Why are married couples are now a minority?
As we look at a little from the Fifth Commandment, we will see why To Be Married Means to Be Outnumbered.
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Exodus 20:12
This commandment is the basis for all the laws dealing with proper authority throughout Scripture. Fallen mans dream from the very first has been to replace Gods authority with his own.
Four of the Ten Commandments deal with the family, and three of them directly: * Honour thy father and thy mother. *Thou shalt not commit adultery. * Thou shalt not steal. * Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours wife... Furthermore, two of them deal with property, showing that the theft laws are family-oriented. In fact, Gods word is built around the family under God.
The Power of the Family
R.J. Rushdoony reminds us that the family is the most important and powerful unit of society, for it controls not only the key areas of life, but God has given to it the control of the future. To name a few areas of the familys power over the future: children, education, property, inheritance, as well as control of welfare. All of these things have been given by the family to the state, whereby the state replaces the family as the power in society, and in controlling the future. Clearly, God gave the control of the future and of society to the family; he gave more power to the family than to any other institution. The Home Education movement is reclaiming that God-given power.
Gods value on the family is seen:
A) The death penalty is given for treason against the family, e.g., adultery, cursing parents, incorrigible child. The death penalty is also given for treason against the Lord, e.g., Lords name in vain, serving other gods, influencing others away from the Lord God. Deuteronomy 13. However, there is no crime against the state identified by Scripture, let alone one that merits the death penalty.
Deuteronomy 13 has an interesting implication. There are those who teach unlimited submission to the state, and that our children should be sacrificed to the states education system. Thus, they see the state as god on earth, and are urging others to serve another god other than Jehovah God. 13:5, [these people promoting unlimited state authority] shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
B) God, in showing his love for his people, identifies himself as their Father, not as their president, king, pastor, &c.
C) God gave the dominion mandate to the family, not to the state nor to the church. The church has the command to equipt, by instructing in Gods word, the family to exercise that dominion. Matthew 28:19, 20, Ephesians 4:12ff. The state is to provide conducive conditions for the family to exercise that dominion. Romans 13.
D) The power to control history is given to the family.
We complain about out-of-control big government, but the fault lies with the out-of-control family. When the family yields up its power in the areas mentioned above, e.g., education of its children, the state assumes that power, and thus assumes the control of history. Then as the family is destroyed, the state gains the power given by God to the family. Let us not think for a moment that the wicked do not understand that their increase in power goes hand in hand with the decrease of the family.
God works in society from the bottom up. We are warned against despising the small things, for the small things (the family) is the basic building block of society. Zechariah 4:10. Many times, our problem is that if we cannot do something big, such as elect a good Christian to an important political office, we see no hope of reforming society. Yet we totally ignore the area from where true reformation must come, the family. The 16th century Reformation emphasized the family unit, and reformed the family.
The vast majority of churches that go by the name reformed only emphasize reformed doctrine; that is, Faith Alone, Grace Alone, Scripture Alone and Christ Alone. These areas of Biblical doctrine are very important, but these same churches fail to take these areas of sound doctrine into the family to reform the family. God ordained the godly family to control history for his glory and for his kingdoms sake.
Until the family reclaims its God given powers and place in Gods plan, we cannot see any kind of return to a sound, Biblical civil government, for civil government is simply doing what the godly family should be doing. The family is looking outside of itself, to the state, to fulfill its God-given responsibilities. The state then becomes big brother to everyone, requiring unlimited funds to fulfill what the family should be doing. See 1 Samuel 8.
1 Kings 10:9 tells us that a righteous ruler is a sign of Gods blessings on a people. Therefore, when God exalts unrighteous rulers, it is a sign of Gods judgment upon a people?upon the family for not fulfilling its God-ordained responsibilities.
Though Christians refuse to acknowledge the fact, the wicked fully understand that they must destroy the family in order to build and maintain the all-powerful state they have dreamed of since Nimrod. So the state makes it very convenient for the family to yield its responsibility to the state.
Evolution
In a recent poll commissioned by AiG, we discovered some eye-opening
information about why so many young people are leaving the church
today. Many said they left church because it was "irrelevant"'
and that the issue of "millions of years" caused them
to doubt the accuracy of the Bible.
One thing was crystal clear in the poll: these young adults were
not given answers to the questions of a skeptical world that would
have enabled them to understand that the Bible really is the inerrant,
infallible Word of God. ... (Answers in Genesis news letter, 12/13/06.)
Evolution is doing the job it was designed to do; that is, undermine the Christian faith. And Christians allow their children to be taught the Evolution faith when they send them to the government schools.
Evolution holds that there are no permanently established facts nor laws; accordingly, facts change as time progresses.
There are only two ways to view history: blind chance or predestination of all things by an unseen hand. As Christians, we must say that Gods unseen hand direct all things, seen and unseen. Evolution says history is a result of blind chance, and the facts of history are unrelated to each other, i.e., brute facts.
We must, therefore, follow the logical implications of chance or Gods predestination. If history is predestination, then history is working Gods will and plan. On the other hand, if history is chance, i.e., evolution, then history must be controlled by someone. Evolution thus requires the state to control history?socialism, or centralized power; evolution requires that the state must be guiding god on earth.
As mentioned above, the basic power of control in history is in the hands of the family. We see in Genesis that Gods plan is to work through the godly family. Thus, the godly family will control the future for the glory of God and the advancement of his kingdom on earth. But the state wants to control the future for its own glory.
So in order for the state, made up of fallen men seeking their own power, to control history, the family must be destroyed.
8 And Cush begat Nimrod, who began to be 1mighty in the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Wherefore it is said, 2As Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. (Genesis 10. 1599 Geneva Bible.)
1 Meaning, a cruel oppressor and tyrant.
2 His tyranny came into a proverb as hated both by God and man:
for he did not cease to commit cruelty even in Gods presence.
Parenthesis:
The above verses and notes are from the Geneva Bible. Note the different reading for v. 8 than is found in the KJV. KJV, v. 8, to be a mighty one in the earth. Geneva, to be mighty in the earth. As I have used the Geneva and compared it with the KJV, I understand why King James wanted to rid Christians of the Geneva. An example is found in Matthew 2:6. KJV says a governor, where the Geneva says, the governor. The wording in the Geneva is strong against despotic, tyrannical rulers. That strong wording is removed from the KJV. The spelling in the Geneva has been updated, leaving the wording the same, and republished. There is now no excuse not to have the Word of God as carried by the Pilgrims when they landed here in Jamestown.
Genesis 10 makes it clear that the goal of fallen man is to exercise total control of everything, even nature itself. (We must control global warming. Nature has no laws. All laws are Gods laws as seen through nature. Mother nature is a false god.)
Darwin, with his theory of evolution, gave the ungodly a new and effective tool to use against the family.
R.J. Rushdoony points out that evolution holds that the family is a primitive institution which must be done away with if society is to evolve into something better. The wicked hold that the origins of the family is in mans primitive past, not in Gods creative purpose. Accordingly, the family is seen entirely as an evolutionary product of mans culture. (Institutes, p. 159)
Implications:
1) to the evolutionists, the deterioration of the family proves their faith right. (Do not dispensationalists see the deterioration of society as proof their faith is right, and thus lose motivation to stop the disintegration?)
2) as man advances up the evolutionary ladder, the family must be destroyed and relegated to the past.
3) evolutionists see no problem with, in fact, may even rejoice and help with, the destruction of the family.
Furthermore, Rushdoony points out:
Religion, thus, is seen as a projection of the family, and the family must therefore be destroyed in order that religion may also be destroyed. But this is not all. Private property is similarly seen as an outgrowth of the family, and the abolition of private property requires the destruction of the family as a prerequisite. (Ibid., 161.)
Let us follow RJRs line of thought, expanding it further.
In order to do away with religion and private property, the family must first be destroyed. Evolution says that the destruction of the family is the next logical step for mankind. Accordingly, if the state will destroy religion and private property in order to gain and retain its power, it must support sodomy, immorality and same sex marriages, which is why we see such a hatred against the family, and the wagons circle in defense of evolution.
A Free-for-All on Science and Religion By GEORGE JOHNSON. NYT,
Published: November 21, 2006
Maybe the pivotal moment came when Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate
in physics, warned that "the world needs to wake up from
its long nightmare of religious belief," or when a Nobelist
in chemistry, Sir Harold Kroto, called for the John Templeton
Foundation to give its next $1.5 million prize for "progress
in spiritual discoveries" to an atheist - Richard Dawkins,
the Oxford evolutionary biologist whose book "The God Delusion"
is a national best-seller. (<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/21/science/21belief.html?pagewanted=1&th&emc=th>)
Creationists to be arrested?
British Lord Stings Senators Rockefeller and Snowe: 'Uphold
Free Speech or Resign'
Breitbart.com Just the news. 12/18/06
In what The Charleston (WV) Daily Mail has called "an intemperate attempt to squelch debate with a hint of political consequences," Senators Rockefeller [D-WV] and Snowe [R-Maine] released an open letter dated October 30 to ExxonMobil CEO, Rex Tillerson, insisting he end Exxon's funding of a "climate change denial campaign." The Senators labeled scientists with whom they disagree as "deniers," a term usually directed at "Holocaust deniers." Some voices on the political left have called for the arrest and prosecution of skeptical scientists. The British Foreign Secretary [Lord Monckton, Viscount of Brenchley] has said skeptics should be treated like advocates of Islamic terror and must be denied access to the media. ...
ExxonMobil funds climate-skeptic scientists, which greatly upsets those promoting climate-change. These skeptics function without taxpayer money and despite the likelihood of refusal of publication in journals that have taken preconceived positions... They are vilified by ignorant environmentalists; and [threatened with] loss of tenure in institutions of learning which no longer make any pretence to uphold or cherish academic freedom..
Concludes Lord Monckton, "I challenge you to withdraw or resign because your letter is the latest in what appears to be an internationally-coordinated series of maladroit and malevolent attempts to silence the voices of scientists and others who have sound grounds, rooted firmly in the peer- reviewed scientific literature, to question what you would have us believe is the unanimous agreement of scientists worldwide that global warming will lead to what you excitedly but unjustifiably call 'disastrous' and 'calamitous' consequences."
(http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/12/18/prnw.20061218.DCM029.html)
Notice the call to arrest deniers of global-warming, as well as withhold tax moneys from institutions who retain those deniers.
How close are we to the arrest of those who deny evolution? How close are we to seeing tax moneys withheld from institutions (particularly education institutions that receive any kind of state aid) who retain deniers of evolution? The stakes in the Creation debate are much higher than in the global-warming debate; at stake is the life of the modern tyrannical state.
Christians, get your heads out of the sand, or clouds, and face the reality of the war for the hearts and minds of your children.
Thus, Ken Hams Answers in Genesis is dealing with evolution, the root of many of our social ills today. We can help destroy that root of Evolution by getting and passing on any of the many DVD videos that are available that show the foolishness of evolution.
In order for the family to be destroyed, the manliness of men must be destroyed MEN MUST BE FEMIIZED, and WOMEN MUST BE MASCULINIZED. An old term for this change of roles is that the wife now wares the pants in the family, where the wife is the real power in the family. We must say also, that the church has been feminized, and the women now ware the pants there. That is, they control the church. (The second church where I was a staff member, it was common knowledge that it was controlled by the pastors wife. Thus, that pastor was disqualified to be the pastor. 1 Timothy 3:2, 5.) Moreover, everything possible is being done to feminize the work place and especially the military. Men are allowing their manhood to be striped from them by society, led by the education system.
We cannot deny that men have been and are being demasculinized to the point where they think nothing of acting like, looking like ? jewelry and all, working like, and even smelling like women, while women have been urged to take the place of men. In fact, active boys are medicated so they will act like girls, and girls are encouraged to act like boys, and even join the football team. Notice the average sitcom: The females have replaced the males in aggressively talking about and moving toward sex. The men have been turned into wimps, dumber than, fearful of or under the control of their wives (if they are married). The Biblical roles of male and female must be destroyed in order to destroy the family.
In his comments on Leviticus 19:29, Clement of Alexandria, ([A.D. c 153c - 215] The Instructor) shows us that the warfare against men is not new. Masculine Christianity overthrew pagan Rome. Therefore, there is proven victory even in the midst of the most serious attacks against God and his Word if men can regain and retain their Christian masculinity. (See The Effeminate Male in the Examiner, June 1996, <http://www.biblicalexaminer.org/w199606.htm>)
The family is now defined as any two people living together: a mother and child, an unmarried man and woman or two people of the same sex. In fact, we are seeing that two sodomites have better access to adoption than do Christians. However, several states, in the 2006 election, overwhelmingly voted to ban same sex marriage.
Private property.
The Creation or Dominion Mandate reads:
Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Thus, an essential function of the family and of the man under God is to subdue the earth and have dominion over it. This mandate is given to the man as the head of his family as he is defined by Gods word. It is not given to the state. This mandate clearly involves the Biblical perspective of private property.
The earth was created very good, and was to be subdued and developed in terms of Gods word under the hand of man through his family.
Throughout history, private property has been a measure of not only a mans wealth, but also a measure of his power in society and his freedom under God?a family can be pretty well self-sufficient on property that is paid for, and with no tax bill. (Under the Hebrew economy, private property had to be returned to the family that owned it every 50 years, the year of the Jubilee. The propertys value was based upon its use until the Jubilee. The Jubilee requirement prevented the power in society from gravitating to a few people who might end up owning all the property.)
Religion and private property are seen as products of the family. Those who desire unchallenged power and control of all things must do away with both the Biblical religion and private property, for private property represents power. But before religion and private property can be destroyed, the family must be destroyed.
God tells us what is taking place:
Psalms 2:3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
Psalms 2 is clearly speaking about the ungodly who are seeking unrestrained civil authority. The Jamieson, Fausset, Brown Commentary says here that the bands... and... cords?denote the restraints of government. (Psalms 2:3..)
Before those bands and cords, which represent Gods law, can be broken, the family must be destroyed.
Albert Barnes makes this observation:
Psalm 2:3. Let us break their bands asunder The bands of Yahweh and of his Anointed. They who are engaged in this combination or conspiracy regard Yahweh and his Anointed as one, and as having one object ? to set up a dominion over the world. Hence, they take counsel against both; and, with the same purpose and design, endeavor to cast off the authority of each. The word bands here refers to the restraints imposed by their authority. The figure is probably taken from fastening a yoke on oxen, or the bands or cords which were used in plowing ? the bands of the yoke being significant of their subjection to the authority or will of another. The same figure is used by the Saviour in Matthew 11:29: Take my yoke upon you. The idea here is, that it was the purpose of Yahweh and his Anointed to establish a dominion over men, and that it was equally the purpose of the kings and rulers here referred to that it should not be done.
Mr. Barnes goes on to say that cords speak of binding the ox to the plow. ...Together, the expressions refer to the purpose among men to cast off the government of God, and especially that part of his [Gods] administration which refers to his purpose to establish a kingdom under the Messiah. It thus indicates a prevalent state of the human mind as being impatient of the restraints and authority of God, and especially of the dominion of his Son, anointed as King.
Those desiring to establish a One World Government are restricted by the bands and cords of the Lords law, which holds them back as a yoke holds oxen to the plow. The bands establish the Lords dominion over man, a fact hated by fallen man. Thus, their goal is to break the bands, so fallen man can be his own god, and so he can advance on up the evolutionary ladder.
But in order to do that, the family must first be destroyed.
The cry of fallen man, particularly in authority, is We will not have this man to reign over us. (Luke 19:14.) That is to say, they refuse to submit to Gods government as revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. They rejected Gods law, the Ten Commandments and their implications, with the dream of being a law unto themselves.
Fallen mans goal is to be his own god, able to determine for himself without Gods word what is good and evil. Genesis 3:5, Psalms 2. The purpose of the war against the family is so the ungodly can cast off the bands and cords of the Biblical religion, and be the sovereign god over all things.
Note that Psalm 2:2 tells us that those desiring a One World Government take counsel together. That is, they literally sit together, and deliberate. Their efforts are not made in foolish hast nor in the heat of rage. (Spurgeon.) Rather, they carefully deliberate and think through their plans of how to best remove the Christian religion that is holding back their world-dominating goal. The conspirators understand that the primary thing they must do is destroy the family.
Spurgeon says here: Sinners have their wits about them, and yet saints are dull. The saints very seldom, if ever, deliberate and develop long range plans for the kingdom of God, and how to build up, strengthen and preserve the family.
I was on the staffs of two large churches that expected their people to build their lives around the church, so the church provided activities 6 days or nights a week. In one of them, we would discuss in staff meetings about how dangerous it was to allow too much time through the week for children to be on their own, for the parents would not properly use that free time. Thus, we had a youth pastor to keep the young people busy every night except maybe one. We felt that the church must provide something to consume all the families time. Unknowing at the time, I see now that we were counseling together as to how to destroy the family.
Why did we not, and why do not churches today, counsel together on how to strengthen the family? how to strengthen the fathers authority in the family? how to strengthen the tie between the father, parents, and the children? how to exalt the joys of a large family? how to train young men to be godly husbands and fathers? The young ladies are being trained to be godly homemakers, wives and mothers, but the young men are being ignored. Why do not churches counsel together on how to develop long range plans for the kingdom of God, of which the strong family is the foundation.
Adam Clarke points out that the Church may be tolerated in the world if she will only give up her discipline. (Psalms 2.) That is, as long as the church does not challenge the sovereignty claimed by the state, the church will be tolerated. Hence we see the state not only permitting, but promoting those churches that are Politically Correct.
Polycarp (69-155), a disciple of St John, could have avoid martyrdom by simply saying the words, Caesar is Lord, which he refused to do. In Polycarp, we see illustrated the continual conflict between the state (Rome in his case) that claims to be god, and the Church (Christians) who insist that the state is not the sovereign lord over all creation. How many Christians believe that Romans 13 is the final word, and all that is said by the state is law, making the state the sovereign lord?
But in order for the state to advance its claim of sovereignty, it must destroy the family, for the Biblical religion that challenges its claim of sovereignty is built upon the godly family. The Biblical idea of a family must be destroyed in order for the state to advance and maintain its god on earth claim.
Many on the Christian Right have confessed that the State is Lord for the money, e.g., Jerry Falwell. Now these Christian institutions do not have to depend on families to support their works. They look to and are now dependant upon the state. They have become watchmen blinded by state money, and dumb dogs that have been bought off with state aid, and can no longer bark against hand that feeds them. (Isaiah 56:10.)
In order to retain and advance the states power, every state institution must do all it can to undermine the family.
Weapons against the family:
* Femenizing the boys and men
* Enforced teaching of evolution as a fact.
* Marriage penalty in the tax code.
*Pornography
* Inflation. Decrease wages and increased cost of living has forced
the wife to work outside the home, many times just to survive.
(Operating engineer pay in 1967 was $14 an hour. Unless one is
on a big government prevailing wage job, the pay is
still $14.)
* Fiat money system; that is, money created out of nothing. That
money can buy off criticism even from the Christian community,
as well as undermine the Christian family work ethic through welfare.
Welfare takes over what the family should be doing.
The multiplied millions of dollars given to Faith-Based
institutions has effectively silenced any criticism from the Christian
Right of an out-of-control, tyrannical civil government
that is determined to establish a One-World Government, e.g.,
Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Chuck Colson, Campus Crusade, Beverly
LaHaye, Franklin Graham, Lou
Sheldon, &c. (http://mattchancey.blogspot.com/2005/02/faith-based-in-big-government.html)
*Eminate Domain destroys private property.
* Sunday Schools and Childrens Churches separate the family when they should be together. From the earliest, young people should be taught to sit still in church.
* The unBiblical (no mandate by God to educate) state education system. State education undermines the role of the Biblical family. The teachers become the parents, and the peers become the siblings. And those Christians who can and should be sounding the alarm have been bought off with state money. Hence the hatred against Home Education, for Home Education strengthens the family.
Public schools nationwide have embraced What Makes a Family, a photographic exhibit and film that includes same-sex-parented families as part of one great big mosaic of normal. Meanwhile, the mainstream press now rarely questions the social and clinical wisdom of same-sex parenting, preferring to explore its internal challenges instead... (World, December 9, 2006. Experimental Kids. P. 36. The article deals with Katrina Clark, now 18, who grew up with two mothers in a sodomite home. It tells of her hunger to find her real father who donated the sperm for her mother. The issue is adults making life-altering decisions for their children that are in the adults best interests as opposed to whats in the best interests of the child. ? Katrina Clark.)
The major change agent working against the Biblical family is the state through its education system. If it is sin to subject our children to the anti-christ state in its education system, what must be the verdict upon those who work in instructing in state mandated re-education of the children?
However, our eyes must be on our God who holds the future in his hands:
The clear and beneficent teaching of the passage [Psalms 2] is that there can be but one God, one sovereign power, one eternal righteousness, and that whatsoever sets itself against this one rulership must inevitably be broken and dashed in pieces. (Parker Parker, Preaching Through the Bible. Vol. 12, p. 29. Baker Book House.)
The sight of heathenism should not depress the soul into moods of despair; it should turn expectation and attention in the direction of heaven itself, because of its height shall come the King who shall rule all kings and the Saviour who shall taste death for every man. [Psalms 22:27] All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. (Ibid., p 32. See also Daniel 7:13, 14.)
Let me mention one more thing about evolution. Evolution holds that order comes out of chaos. It appears that a motive for bring chaos to Iraq was that order would develop. No matter how many times that theory fails when put into practice, those with the evolution faith will continue their attempts to bring order out of their self-created chaos.
The Biblical Family must be destroyed if the One-World Government dream will be accomplished ? the dream of man being above Gods law. However, the tower of Babble shows us that that dream will never be fulfilled.
To here, December 3, 2006.
Rushdoony points out that the monogamous family is based on the supremacy of the man with the purpose of establishing children of undisputed paternity. These children will come into their fathers property as his natural heirs. Monogamy, it is held by the ungodly, reduces the importance of women. So to increase the womans importance, the monogamous family must be undermined. (Example: How many women are supported by the state based upon their lack of a husband and the number of children they have?)
As the family is destroyed, the care and education of the children becomes a public affair, an unbiblical arm of the state; society looks after all children alike, legitimate and illegitimate. (An illegitimate child in Scripture had no heirship rights. Leviticus 20:20, 21.)
Women in the work force
Since WW II, women have been urged to go into the work force. She has become emancipated, freed from the Biblical religion-marriage-property complex. In addition, as the economy deteriorates and wages drop, the wife and mother must go into the work force. She becomes an industrial worker.
The Biblical doctrine of the family:
First, The family is viewed in terms of a God-centered function and origin. It is part of Gods purpose for man and is to function for the glory of God.
Second, God created man to subdue the earth and to exercise dominion over it under God. This is to be a function of the family, and mans fall did not alter his calling. However, now the only way that calling can be fulfilled is through Christs regenerating work.
Third, fulfilling the Dominion Mandate involves mans responsibility and authority as a faithful governor under God. Man must faithfully govern under the authority and terms of King Jesus. The ungodly seek to transfer that authority to the state. Thus, the family is to all practical intent abolished whenever the state determines the education, vocation, religion, and the discipline of the child. (Institutes, p. 164.) The ungodly state seeks to reduce parents to simply producing children for the state to train up in the way that best supports the state. We see today that the state has transferred almost all authority over the children to itself. In fact, it takes very little excuse for the state to literally take over all authority through the Child Protection Agency.
The meaning of the family is thus not to be sought in procreation but in a God-centered authority and responsibility in terms of mans calling to subdue the earth and to exercise dominion over it. (Ibid., p. 144.)
Fourth, rather than being a unimportant part of the family, she woman called to be a help-meet for the man in his dominion role. She was not included in the Dominion Mandate; that is, go out and do your part to subdue the earth. Rather, she is to be a very competent wife, manager, business-woman, teacher, and mother?a person of real authority, as she takes her proper place in the Godly family.
Life Promised
Deuteronomy 5:16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Honour...
First, a general respect:
Leviticus 19:32 Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.
The older generation, regardless of the moral charactor, is due a basic respect and honor.
Second, a religious honor.
Proverbs 16:31 ¶ The hoary head is a crown of glory,
if it be found in the way of righteousness.
Proverbs 20:29 ¶ The glory of young men is their strength:
and the beauty of old men is the gray head.
According to Scripture, grey hear obtained in the way of righteousness gives the person moral authority.
Philemon 1:8 ¶ Wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient,
Here Paul claimed his authority based on love, age and his bondage for Christ as his moral authority.
Because of this required respect for age, it is all the more important that as we mature in age, we grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Gods Word. That is, grow in understanding the will of God and the wisdom of how to fulfill that will of God.
The same responsibility is given to both men and women to know and do Gods will, and the same honor is due both. Titus 2:2, 3.
Thus, we see that honor to parents and to all older than ourselves is a necessary aspect of the basic law of inheritance. Among other things, we should address older people with honor and respect, regardless of what kind of people they are. When we respect our elders, parents or otherwise, we respect all that is good in our culture.
Failure to honor parents and older persons severs us from all the good of the past. Thus, in dishonoring parents, children disinherit themselves.
It is sad to see parents leave their material goods to their ungodly children, who will squander it on serving the flesh wine, women and song.
Note that the law is given in an adult context, and calls for honor, not obedience. Children are called to obey their parents.
Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Charles Hodge points out two things here:
First, obey... obedience is religious; obedience is to rise out of the conviction that obedience is the will of God. Thus, obedience here is a higher service than if given from fear or mere natural affection.
Second, for this is right. Obedience is not based upon the personal character of the parents kindness or expediencythat is, obey because of the end results that might come from obedience. Obedience is given because it is right. It is the nature of the relation between parents and children.
A third point:
Colossians 3:20. Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
Well pleasing... It pleases the Lord when the children properly honor and obey their parents.
A fourth point:
In all things is not unlimited power of the parents over the children. The Old Testament family laws clearly spell out the limitations of the parents power over the children.
In Biblical faith, the family inherits from the past in order to grow firmly into the future. ... Marriage calls for a move forward by man and his wife as they break from their old families to start a new one. However, they do not break from their natural and religious duties owed to their old families. (Institutes, 167.)
The Second part of the Fifth commandment: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Here prosperity and long life are promised. Solomon repeats this promise:
Proverbs 4:10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
In fact, Proverbs 1-5 contain the My son instructions, of a father to his son.
Hodge points out for Ephesians 6:2 that it is in the general purpose of God to bless obedient children with long life and prosperity. It is the usual course of his providence, as are riches to the hands of the diligent:
Proverbs 10:4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand:
but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
Proverbs 12:24 The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but
the slothful shall be under tribute.
However, these are general promises to be fulfilled to individuals, just so far as it shall serve for Gods glory, and their own good.
Thus, the reality of life is that he who loves life, and honors the God who created life, by reverencing His law and his parents under God, lives most truly, happily, and longest as a rule. (Institutes, p. 168.)
I didnt ask to be born is saying Im not asking to live. and thus their life is shortened. It is dishonoring to parents. DISHONOR TO ONES PARENTS IS TO DISHONOR ONES SELF, AND TO INVITE DEATH.
* Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people
ages 15 to 24. In 2001, 3,971 suicides were reported in this group
(Anderson and Smith 2003).
* Of the total number of suicides among ages 15 to 24 in 2001,
86% (n=3,409) were male and 14% (n=562) were female (Anderson
and Smith 2003). (<http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/suifacts.htm>)
Apparently, as disrespect toward parents increases, there has been an increase in suicide. Because proper respect for ones parents brings with it long life, then disrespect to ones parents brings with it a death-wish.
Gods law covers the most minute details, particularly in the family:
It was forbidden to kill a cow or ewe and their young on the
same day. Leviticus 22:28.
The mother bird had to be released when the young were taken.
Deuteronomy 22:6, 7.
A kid could not be boiled in its mothers milk. Exodus 23:19.
These things show us that man cannot exploit the resources of
the earth radically nor totally. the very life that is given to
him for food used under law. (Institutes 171.)
Honoring parents is placed on the same level as sabbath-keeping:
Leviticus 19:1 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy. 3 Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel is only used in the entire law. (Exodus 12:3, and the passover is the other.)
The first means to attain to the holiness that pleases God is to honor ones parents. (Mother is listed first, showing that equal honor is due both parents.)
* Do not stand or sit in the place set apart for the parents.
* Do not raise trivial objections nor oppose their statements.
* Do not address them by their proper names; either call them
mother or father. It is not a sign of respect to call an elder
by his or her proper name.
* Honor in Exodus 20:12 includes providing them with food and
raiment when needed, and escorting them when needed. Remember,
they are Gods representative upon earth, even the giver
of our lives.
* Leviticus 19:3 commands us to fear mother and father.
* Those who blasphemed the name of God and those who curse mother
or father were to be stoned. (Leviticus 20:9, 24:16.)
The Second part of the Fifth commandment: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, also promises life for obedience.
As we have already mentioned, this is a general yet literal promise of long life and physical prosperity. However, it is made clear throughout the entire Old Testament that the promise is given to those who keep the whole law. Exodus 15:26, which is before the giving of the Commandments. Deuteronomy 4:40, 5:33, 7:12-16, 32:46, 47.
The promise of prosperity applies to the cattle, fields, and trees, as much as it does to man. Deuteronomy 28.
It is also a promise of death. This law, as are the rest, is a two edged sword. The law promises life as well as death. It promises life for obedience and death for disobedience. Notice that when the law is reduced to just a negative function, Do not..., then the whole law has been defeated. When the blessings of life are removed, then the curses of death are removed?that is, A law against murder is a promise of death to the murderer, but it is a protection of life to the godly. When the promise of life is removed from the godly, then the promise of death is removed from the murderer.
Not only is the general promise of a long and prosperous life given to the law keeper, when the law breaker is dealt with according to Gods law, then the godly stand a better chance of living longer.
Removing death to the sinner, replacing it with love, makes a new law, a law that makes love the redeemer and life-giver, rather than God. (Institutes, 173.)
Family and Economics (174)
Property, from the Latin, meaning not common with others, own, special, several, individual, peculiar, particular, proper. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that the husband and wife have property right in one another. In the Old Testament, a man in a family crisis could sell his children in terms of his property right. However, he could not sell the child into immoral circumstances. The principle being that it was better for the family to survive a chrisis by losing one member than for all to go under in starvation.
In Exodus 21:7-11, the sale of a daughter was in view of the daughter being married to a family member. She could not be treated as a servant, but as a family member. If the marriage fell through, she could be redeemed by her family, or sold into another situation with marriage in view.
The Dowry
The usual pratice in the old Hebrew economy was that the groom or his family had to purchase a wife. Without the dowry, there was no marriage, only concubinage. The wife of the Levite in Judges 19 was a concubine. He took her to wife without paying the required dowry, normally about 3 years wages.
The girl sold according to Exodus 21 was legally protected from being either a concubine or a slave, and could not even be sent out to the fields like a slave.
The girl clearly as the privileges of a dowered wife, because there was a dowry. The dowry in this case went to the girls family, not to her and her children. If the husband-to-be decided against marrying here, then the dowry is restored to him; the girl is redeemed. If he or a son married her, then denied her any wifely right, she then had a legitimate ground for divorce, and left without any restoration of the dowry. the reference to duty of marriage is to her righ tof cohabitation.
Jacob paid a dowry for his wives, but it was not given it to the girls. Rather, Laban demanded it be paid to him. Thus, the girls could literally say they had been sold by their father. (Genesis 31:15.) It was normally 3 years wages, and could be paid by the father or the son, and could be added to by the family. The dowry represented the wifes security in case of divorce where the husband was at fault. The dowry protected the wife. In case of a divorce which was her husbands fault, the dowry was hers. If the fault was hers, the dowry had to be returned.
The European dowry reversed the Biblical dowry, making the womans family pay the mans family to take the woman. Obviously, such a practice destroyeds the family, whereas the Biblical dowry strengthened the family.
In case of seduction and rape, the guilty party still had to pay the dowry, and marry the girl if the family permitted. He then had no right of divorce. Exodus 22:16, 17, Deuteronomy 22:28, 29. (See my booklet on men, Men and Responsibility.) The brides dowry brought into the marriage is found in Proverbs 31.
Economics and support.
The parents have a duty to feed and cloth the child. They also have the duty to provide the children with training so the child can properly enter into adulthood. This includes a godly education and teaching a trade.
This commandment lays the care of the parents upon the children.
Jesus had the care of his mother laid upon him by the death of Joseph. On the cross, he exercised his authority as the first born, and committed the care of his mother to the Apostle John, rather than to the next oldest in the family, James.
The main heir in the family is the one who supported the parents in their last days, regardless of what the birth order is. Inheritance is not a question of feelings nor physical order, but is a question of Godly order. It is sinful to allow anything to interfere with that godly order. Joseph is a good example. As a godly son, he cared for his father, and thus he received the double portion.
To pass on the material possessions the Lord has blessed us with to an ungodly, unbelieving or a rebellious child in to bless evil. The parents have a duty to provide an inheritance as they can afford to do so. (2 Corinthians 12:14.) But to pass it on to an unfaithful child is to finance evil.
The godly first-born son received the double portion, for his responsibility was to care for his parents ? Joseph from Jacob, and John from Christ on the cross. If there were no godly son, then the eldest godly daughter became the heir with the responsibility. An illegitimate child could not be an heir to his fathers estate. Leviticus 20:20, 21. If there were no children, then the next of kin were to receive the estate. Primairly, the state could not seize nor confiscate property. Ezekiel 46:19.
Note that the Biblical laws of inheritance protected and strengthened the family. The modern laws of inheritance protects and strengthens the state, as the state makes itself the legitimate heir to the property with the tax laws, among other things. The state makes itself the true parent with mandatary education in the state schools; it makes itself the true first-born with its care of the elderly; it makes itself the true god with its claim of ownership of all property. The state is great corrupter with its war against the Biblical family.
Education
First, godly chastisement.
Proverbs 13:24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. Proverbs 19:18.
The parents Solomon spoke to were as inclined to be tenderhearted toward their children as parents are today. But chastisement cannot be set aside without destroying the child, and society. We have seen that destruction as parents use less and less discipline for their children.
Note that love means chastisement?chastisement means love: loveth him chasteneth him... In other words, God built into the nature of a child that proper chastisement proves love. The feeling of love may not be present, but the promise of love is, just as sure as chastisement means the Father loves us. Proverbs 3:12, Hebrews 12:6-8.
Proverbs 22:15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
And thus it takes more than words to dislodge that foolishness. Moreover, for a fruit tree to bear properly, it must be pruned properly. Thus, for a child to grow properly, he must be chastised properly.
Second, godly education
Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom:
and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
Here we find that true knowledge and wisdom must start with faith and the proper knowledge and understanding of the God of the Bible. Thus, there can be no neutral education. Either one will be educated to strengthen the state or educated to be strengthened in the Christian faith. Education will either promote the state or the Christian faith.
Thus, the education of the young must remain out of the hands of the church and out of the hands of the state. In Christs day, men were taught to give to the church what belonged to God, and sin was taught as a virtue. Mark 7:7-13. Throughout history, when the state gets hold of education, men are taught to give to the state what belongs to God. The only one who can and will teach young people a proper family education is the godly parent.
The command in Ephesians 6:1 and Colossians 3:20 is children, obey your parents... It is not, children obey your teachers, &c.
Deuteronomy 6:6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
The command to educate the children is to the parents, not to the state nor even to the church. (In my involvement in three churches with schools, I did not encounter any school that taught the truth in all areas, particularly history. They taught the PC version of history.)
Religious leaders in Israel did undertake the task of education, as in 2 Samuel 12:25, David sent for Nathan the prophet to educate, instruct, tutor or monitor Solomon, Davids son by Bathsheba.
Third, education must be practical.
A man must teach is son the law of God and an useful trade. The man who does not train his sons to work has trained them to be thieves.
Greek education left the practical, replacing it with abstract and theoretical education. Biblical law emphasizes practical education.
My brother majored in psychology, a totally useless education. Any more, about the best education one can get is through a technical school.
My dad taught me the building trades.
Fourth, education must be family centered, emphasizing the responsibility of parents to the children and of children to their parents. It must produce responsible children.
1) teach sons the need to marry and establish godly families.
2) teach children the necessity of caring for their parents as the need arises.
3) teach children the Biblical requirement to leave an inheritance for their children, to the best of their ability.
4) teach the children self-control and discipline.
When the family abandons its responsibility to educate and train its children, it leads to destroying masculinity, and women losing their God-ordained function. She becomes a fluffy luxury for men, or an aggressive competitor to men.
Modern education produces specialists who pride themselves in knowing nothing outside of their field of expertise.
The danger of education outside of the family (home education) is that the educator (state especially) becomes the role for the student. The educator becomes the moral guide and role, and the individual becomes dependent upon the educator. This is particularly true of the state when it takes the place of the parent in educating the children, even when the Bible is given a place in the curriculum.
Fifth, the basic calling of any child is to become a member of a family. It is here they learn how to be husbands and fathers, wives and mothers. State schools are destructive to this calling. The state may teach the mechanics of those places in the family, but it cannot teach the actions and moral roles of those places.
The state teaches the child to be unhappy with their Biblical role of godly husband or wife. We see today that the state is training men to be women, and women to be men.
The state must train out of the males the godly aspect of the dominion mandate if the state is going to sustain its claim of dominion over all things.
Sixth, education must emphasize godly learning. That is, proper application of Gods law if one will succeed in life. Psalms 1.
The family must be seen as the best and the basic education institution for the child.
Deuteronomy 21:18 ¶ If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: 19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; 20 And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. 21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
The context of this passage is a beautiful woman taken captive through war with the enemy, vv. 10ff. The man who captured here could take her as his wife after a 30 day mourning period. If he decided he did not delight in her, he could not sell her, but he could set her free. The context continues to describe two wives, and he loves one over the other. However, the man could not exalt the son of the better loved wife over the son of the lessor wife, if he was the first-born.
Two implications from the context: First, the son of v. 18 could well be the son of a pagan wife taken in warfare. David and Solomon had many such sons born to pagan women. It is believed that Absalom was such a son. Second, the son could be the son of the favored wife because the son of the second wife was required to be exalted over him, if that son were the first-born.
From vv. 18-21 we learn:
1) Normally, it took 2 or 3 witnesses and a judicial inquiry for the death penalty to be applied. Yet here, only the parents word was required. Here it is assumed that the situation was as the parents said, or they would not have brought him to the elders.
2) There is a limitation upon the power of the family. Note that abortion is the legal right for parents to take the life of their child, which is forbidden by Gods law. It is significant that those who are against capital punishment are for abortion. They condemn the innocent and free the guilty.
In the surrounding pagan cultures of Old Testament days, including Rome, the father had the states authority to kill his own children. God forbad that practice.
3) The family is required to side with Gods law against their own flesh and blood. If the parents refused to bring the complaint against their son, they were guilty of condoning or participating in his crimes.
Psalms 50:16 But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? 17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee. 18 When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. 19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. 20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mothers son. 21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. 22 Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. 23 Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.
The delinquent son was at war against the fundamental authority of society, the family. If that war is allowed to go unchallenged, all authority breaks down. He could not be pitied.
4) Biblical law is case law. And by using the term, a son, we see than any family member is included in this law, including daughters. If the family will turn over a son who is the heir, it will turn over anyone in fulfillment of this law.
Thus we see that if an incorrigible and habitual criminal son is to be executed, then how much more all children, neighbors and fellow Hebrews? The family that aligns itself for godly order against its own delinquent son will certainly align itself against any habitual criminal in the community.
The purpose of this law is so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear. The family cannot say, We stand with you son, come what may. The family itself must join the war against crime. And when it does, the criminal element of a society will be eliminated.
The only imprisonment in Scripture was while proper investigation was made into the charges against an individual, except in the case of the incorrigible son. Restitution was required, even to the extent of life for a life.
5) The parents were forbidden to pity the rebellious son. Biblical law prohibits pity for the lawless. Sadly, pity today is misplaced: the criminal is pitied over the victim.
Deuteronomy 7:16, pity for the evil inhabitants of Canaan was
forbidden.
Deuteronomy 13:6-9, pity for the subverter of the faith is forbidden,
even when that person is a near and dear relative.
Deuteronomy 19:11-13, pity for the premeditated murderer is forbidden.
Deuteronomy 19:21, justice requires punishment that fits the crime.
Pity cannot override justice.
Deuteronomy 25:11 When men strive together one with another, and
the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out
of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand,
and taketh him by the secrets: 12 Then thou shalt cut off her
hand, thine eye shall not pity her.
If the woman had been permitted to defend her husband this way, the husband could step aside and let his wife fight for him.
Here we see that even love must operate in terms of the law. Lawless love has the curse of the law against it. When she was seen in society with the mutilated hand, she was not to be pitied?it reminded all that love cannot be lawless.
Question: When we see those around us who are suffering from the effects of their sins, how much pity are we to have for them? I have no answer.
6) Those deserving capital punishment according to Gods word cannot be pitied. Life is created by God, governed by God, and is to be taken only as God permits. The family is not given unlimited power over the children, nor is the state given unlimited power over its citizens. Both at all times are limited by Gods law.
Nor can those required to pay restitution be pitied.
7) As we have seen, law is a form of warfare. When the law is not used to restrain the criminal element, then the criminal element becomes stronger than the law-enforcement and abiding element. The courts leinency on the criminal only further complicate the matter.
Authority
The more the state interveins into the family, the more the family is destroyed.
In the eyes of a small child, a parent stands in the place of God Himself! For the parent is the provider, protector, lover, teacher and lawgiver. (Institutes, 192)
Accordingly, throughout history, obedience to civil authority is considered under the heading of the Fifth Commandment. Furthermore, the destruction of the familys position and authority is the destruction of all of society, and the introduction of anarchy.
This is the reason there is so much black crime. There has been more destruction in black families than in non blacks.
The systematical attack on the family leads to radical anarchy, which was the student revolution of the 1960s. The student has no right to govern those in authority in the school, family, occupation. The child has no right to govern his parents, school, nor employees their employer.
In 1968, John D. Rockefeller III, at age 62, told us exactly what those who desire to impose an all-powerful state are doing. He said, Instead of worrying about how to suppress the youth revolution; we of the older generation should be worrying about how to sustain it. (Institutes, 192)
With this statement, Rockefeller told us that the powers that be desire to destroy the family, and thus the proper attitude toward all authority, anarchy. His desire for a total breakdown of society tells us that those in power desire chaos so they can rebuild a society that pleases them. Those in the places of power want to start from scratch, so it means that all social order must be broken down.
And in order for social order to be broken down, the family must be destroyed. When proper authority is undermined, anarchy must develop. The result is that the state strengthens itself to bring the anarchy under control. Moreover, anarchy will cause the citizens to request more state power to control society.
Under the Fifth Commandment and because of his total lack of experience and judgment, the child must be taught instant, unquestioned obedience. There are times when explanations might be necessary, but the child must be taught unquestioned obedience. The parent stands in place of God in the eyes of the child.
Parents represent Gods law order, so they must be obedient to Gods law, and require obedience as representatives of Gods kingdom.
Christ referred to the many Old Testament passages that said that all due authorities represent Gods law-order:
John 10:35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
To the humanists, unquestioned and faithful obedience required by the Fifth Commandment is destructive to the mind. Thus, it is held that true education must stimulate children and youth to break with authority, particularly parental, and deny authoritys claim. John Lockes ideas went even further. His humanistic faith believed in the clean tablet concept. This concept holds that true education requires that the mind be swept clean of all preconceived notions placed there by parents, religion and society. All preconceived notions from the past are chains that must be broken. (Institutes, 194)
Darwin only added fuel to the fire, as he reduced everything in the past to a lower and more primitive level, justifying the required clean sweep approach. Thus we see the hostility to discipline and obedience in almost every area of life.
[Try to discipline an unruly child in public!!]
Skills in paint and drawings have been replaced with spontaneous and unconscious expression, which lack any reason or form. Not long ago, paintings by monkeys were drawing huge amounts of money as art.
In religion, experiences and emotions have replaced sound doctrine.
In politics, authority comes from below, democracy, rather than from above, republic rule by law. The charismatic leader has replaced the statesman who stands for proper authority and law. The same has taken place in the churches.
In music, undisciplined emotionalism has replaced order. Bettie likes classical music, and I have learned to like it more than I did. Even I can tell classical music that has been composed by a modern composer. The notes are very haphazard and unorganized. It sets my teeth on edge.
The hatred of obedience and discipline is wide-spread.
This nation was funded by Christians for Christians. Those people were well trained in discipline and obedience, and it was not uncommon at all for 16 year olds to set out on their lifes work. At the age of 16, George Washington helped survey Shenandoah lands for Thomas, Lord Fairfax. Lafayette was a captain in the French cavalry at age 16. He joined with George Washington as a major general when he was 20, and led American forces to several victories before he was 22. In puritan America, children were usually taught to read by their mothers between ages two and four. (195)
In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries it was not uncommon for children as young as 6 to be able to read and speak Greek, Hebrew and Latin. The early Christians, Reformation era and even the early years of our country would gladly listen to lengthy sermons of up to 2 hours, and be able to discuss the 40 or so points throughout the week.
Today, young men enjoy being irresponsible. Back when I got out of the service in 1965, there was a young man in the college of the church I attended that had been a student for 6 or more years. He was fearful of getting out into the working world.
Under the Fifth Commandment, a godly respect for power and authority as duly established by God is required by Scripture. Exodus 22:28, Leviticus 19:32, Deuteronomy 16:18. But godly obedience does not require endorsement nor unlimited submission. Godly obedience is the best ground for resisting evil.
The main and basic godly authority is the family. If the parents are not respected and obeyed by children, no other authority will be honored nor obeyed.
The Family and Authority
Through an unusual and distinct act of Divine Providence, Justinian became
Institutes
Exposition
Christ summed up the whole law in two words:
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Thus, the second word, our duty to man, is as binding as is the first word, our duty to God. Exodus 20:12 starts to define our duty to man.
We are told in James 2:10, 11, that both tables
of the law are of equal authority.